
-uSi^" 




^0mc x)f Ibc f robiLicntial f cssuns oi IS'Gl. 
ioh) to ®ctt i\n mmis of 1862. 



TWO DISCOUESES, 



Preached December 29th, 1861, and January 5th, 1862, 



REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS, D.D. 



NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY W. H. BIDWELL, 5 BEEKMAN STREET. 

1862 " ' 





4 







61505 
'0* 



J 

i 

A 



\^" SERMOlSr. 

T-niUCHED ON SfNDiY AKTEHXOO.V, DECRMBKU 'iOlII, iNfll. 

BY REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS, D.D., 

OF X E V\' - Y R K CITY. 

SOME OF THE PROVIDENTIAL LESSONS OP 1851. 

" I TVTLL remember the works of the Lord : surclv I will remember thy wonders of 
old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thv doini^s. Thy way Ood 
IS in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God I Tliou art the God that doe.st 
wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people."— Psalm 77 : 11-14. 

The close of the year has always been regarded as a period 
well adapted to a serious review of life. "On reach in cr it, a 
thoiigbtfal man will instinctively turn hack to consider the path 
he has been traveling, and the pnnciples which have guided him. 
It is quite impossible to attain a high , degree of personal wisdom 
and culture without occasional seasons of calm, honest self- 
inspection^ and there is a natural fitness in the clo.sing of the 
year for such a task. It is a favorable moment, also, for consider- 
ing the ways of God, and studying those great principles by which 
he governs the world. I recollect hearing the celebrated Professor 
Ritter, of Berlin, remark, that if one wished to understand the 
configuration of the earth, he should begin by going forth into 
nature, and observing carefully the structure of the hills and 
plains just about him; he would thus become virtual master of 
the laws which explain the geography of the globe. The saying 
is not inapplicable to the course of JProvidence. lie who marks 
well the manner in which God governs the world for a single 
year, will have little difficulty in understanding the general pr?n- 
ciples upon which he has governed it from the beginning, and 
will continue to govern it to the end of time. " Thy kingdom is 
an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout 
all •generations." There is no caprice, no vacillation in Provi- 
dence. It is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Although 
as free as it is almighty, both its freedom and its power are im- 

NoTE. — These discourses are published in the National Preacher and Prater- 
Meeting for February. Extra copies are printed in this form, and may be had at the 
office by the dozen cr hundreds 



2 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

mutable. Its methods may and do differ; some of them being 
plain to every eye, while others are exceedingly involved and ob- 
scure, baffling human insight; but its prmciples and end never, 
chauge; and they are always most wise, just, beneficent, and true. 
Like the roots of the everlasting hills, a part of Gods designs 
may be deep out of sight; but like the summit and massive sides 
of those same hills, seen under a clear sky, how distinct, grand 
and substantial are oftentimes the visible parts! As we contem- 
plate them, how they seem to lift us to the very heavens and to 
inspire us with the consciousness of a strength and repose immov- 
able like their own ! i i i 

Let us spend a few moments, then, in looking back over the 
year on whose outermost verge we now stand, and gathering up 
some of the lessons which it so impressively teaches us. I say tis ; 
for although its events, I do not doubt, are intended for the ulti- 
mate instruction of mankind, we are the party principally con- 
cerned with them at present. Foreigners and foreign nations may 
be prepared to understand their import by and by ;_ we see that 
they are not at all prepared now. It is a domestic, American 
trouble; we are the chief actors and the chief sufferers; and 
whatever the issue, wdiether good or bad, ours will be the imme- 
diate gain or loss. What the next year may bring forth, we can 
not tell ; the circle of trouble may be so widened as to reach the 
Old World and involve other nations ; but even should that occur, 
which may it please Heaven to forbid ! the stress of conflict will 
still be here; and we shall still be the foremost actors and sufferers. 
God is plainly executing in the United States one of those great 
historic movements which notch the centuries; and he is not likely 
to be diverted from his foreordained plan by any foreign interfer- 
ence whatever. The strategy of Providence is exceedingly saga- 
cious, comprehensive, and far-reaching ; and is very apt to be 
successful, let who will attempt to thwart it. 

What, then, are some of the more obvious lessons taught us by 
the momentous events of 1861 ? 

1, I reply, first of all, that God really governs the world. I 
know we all professed to believe this in 1860, and never remem- 
ber the day, perhaps, when it was not a leading article of our 
creed. Providence itself, as well as the Bible, had often impressed 
it upon us. But who is not ready to confess that the course of 
events during the past year has taught this truth, especially as it 
reo'ards our national life and affairs, with an emphasis altogether 
extraordinary? How dimly the most of us had been Avont to 
perceive God's hand in sustaining our rejniblican institutions and 
government! We had almost come to feel that the Union and 
Constitution and liberties of our country needed no divine support ; 
that they were as incapable of being overthrown as the Allegha- 
nies or the Eocky Mountains; yea, as the great globe itself But 



THE PROVIDEXTIAL LESSOXS OF 18G1. 3 

we have been rudely awakened out of this delusive dream. '\Ve 
have seen our idolized ship of state going upon those fearful 
breakers, which we knew had proved the grave of many a power- 
ful and renowned government; we have listened through long, 
long months of agony to the creaking of her timbers, the'clreadful 
sound of the rocks and the fury of the raging sea, until at length 
it became clear to us as noonday, that oidy one Pilot was wise 
enough or strong enough to weather the storm and save her from 
utter, hopeless wreck; and that was the Almighty Pilot, who 
planned and built the ship ! And how well He has thus far just- 
ified our confidence ! " If it had not been the Lord, who was on 
our side, now may Israel say : If it had not been, the Lord who 
was on our side Avhen men rose up against us; then the waters 
had overwhelmed us; . . "then the proud waters had gone over 
our soul." I have recently called your attention to the many 
irresistible proofs that we owe our deliverance to the special favor 
and interposition of Providence; and I need not repeat them now. 
You will, I am sure, agree with me in the feeling that they 
ought to excite within us mingled awe, astonishment, and thanks- 
giving. If as a people we ever forget to praise the God of our 
fathers for the manner in which he hurried to our rescue in this 
appallingcrisis, our tongues should forever cleave to the roof of our 
mouths ! 

But it is not merely in reference to what he has done for the 
salvation of the republic, that the past year teaches us how real is 
God's government of the world. This whole civil convulsion, in 
all its aspects, proclaims, trumpet-tongued, the same truth ; it does 
so, at least, to every thoughtful and devout observer. 

You recollect the opening words of the flimous French preacher 
at the funeral of the Grand Monarch : " God only is great !" In a 
similar strain we might well exclaim, as we recall the strange scenes 
of the vanishing year, and bid them a final adieu: "God alone 
rules among the inhabitants of the earth 1" In the presence of 
such awful troubles and desolation — in the presence of such vast 
changes, coming home to the very bosoms and involving the dear- 
est interests, the happiness and the national existence even of' 
thirty millions of human beings — it seems a kind of impiety to 
recognize any hand but that which made the world. Some, I 
know, deem it an easy thing to show exactly how this storm 
arose ; who and what were the agents in producing it ; and how 
it might have been avoided. They can see in it nothing but the 
natural effects of obvious human causes. For myself, I can not 
assent at all to this view. It is only half the truth. Of 
course, I do not deny that this trouble has real and deep-seated 
human causes. It is no bare miracle, nor has it sprung up out of 
the dust. Never was there a great civil convulsion, whose his- 
torical grounds and motives were more distinctly traceable, or 



4 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

more worthy to be studied. But when we have gone as far in 
this direction as it is possible to go; when we have philosophized 
upon the matter to the extent of our ability, we shall stiU find 
ourselves confronted with difficulties whose only solution is the 
decree of Omnipotence. Both reason and religion will compel 
us to cry out with the psalmist : " Come, behold the works of the 
Lord 1 what desolations he hath made in the earth 1 He is terri- 
ble in his doings toward the children of men." If there be a 
chapter in American history crowded with providential events 
and judgments, it is certainly that which contains the records of 
1861. The very insignificance of most of the human agents only 
serves to bring all the more clearly into the foreground of the 
tremendous scene that mysterious Power, which led the hosts of 
Israel through the wilderness, which stood by Shadrach, Meshach 
and Abednego in the burning fiery furnace, which St. John, in 
his vision of heaven, saw riding forth in righteousness to judge 
and to make war, ruling the nations with a rod of iron and tread- 
ing the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God — 
that august Power before the breath of whose nostrils kings and 
statesmen and mighty men are as chaff driven by the whirlwind. 
The first great lesson, then, taught us by the events of the past 
year is the reality and beneficence of the divine government. 

2. The next lesson which we have been learning from the 
same events, is the inestimable worth and sanctity of rightful 
human government. What loose and false notions used to pre- 
vail among us on this subject ! How imperfectly we were imbued 
with the sentiment that civil society is a divine institution ; that 
rulers are ordained of God for the terror of evil-doers, and the 
praise of them that do well ; and that they are responsible to him 
for the faithful performance of their duties ! Not that we directly 
denied this truth ; on the contrary, it was not unfrequently incul- 
cated from both the pulpit and the press; but we had only the 
faintest conception of its fundamental position in the moral order 
of the world ; we hardly dreamed of its immense practical mean- 
ing and importance. We had been in the habit of regarding 
government so exclusively on its mere earthly side ; of consider- 
ing and treating it as the creature of our own will and of 
flattering ourselves for the skill with which we and our fathers 
had framed and carried it on ; political power, too, had been so 
prostituted to evil purposes, so divorced from the nobler influ- 
ences, intelligence, and character of the nation, that there was a 
natural repugnance to mixing up what seemed so utterly worldly, 
with the thought of God, and giving it the sanction of his author- 
ity. There is nothing more antagonistic to the sentiment of rever- 
ence than honest contempt; and this is the very feeling which 
had for years been growing stronger and more intense among the 
best portion of the American people toward mere politics and 



THE PROVIDEXTIAL LESSONS OF ISGl. 

politicians. The two terms wei'c fast bccoiniiiji: synonymous for 
whatever is most groveling, mercenai-y, and unpiincipled in hu- 
man conduct, riow, under sucii circumstances, could government 
itself retain any deep hold upon the respect and veneration of tiie 
people? The effect was exactly analogous to that which follows 
in the sentiments of a community toward the Church, whm 
religion and its professors become widely infected with formalism, 
low morals, and hypocrisy. At such a time it is of little use to 
talk about the Church as an institution of God ; men are in no 
mood to receive the doctrine. Tlie}^ are rather disposed to wish 
there were no church in the world. And thus thousands of the 
most intelligent and virtuous people in this country had grown so 
heart-sick of the political degeneracy, meanness, and corruption 
of the times ; so filled with indignant shame and disgust at the 
manner in which power was prostituted to selfish and wicked 
ends, that, instead of looking up to government as an ordinance 
of God, they were rather inclined to wish there were no such thing 
in existence to stimulate men's bad passions with its huge tempta- 
tions ! 

But the experience of the past year has taught us new and 
more scriptural lessons on this subject. It has taught us that if 
there were no such thing as government in the world, human society 
would be changed into a hell upon earth. It has taught us that 
we can no more dispense with law, order, and civil authority than 
we can dispense with light and air and daily bread, in the sphere 
of our physical, or with property, marriage, and the family, in the 
sphere of our moral being. We have found out that God has 
placed us under government for the largest and most robust disci- 
pline of our nature; for developing iu'us the manliest virtues, 
loyalty, honor, fidelity, obedience, self-sacrificing courage, and pub- 
lic spirit; and that the proper way to show our discontent wiih 
its al3uses is to labor with religious zeal for their correction, and to 
fulfill all the duties of a good citizen. We have, in a word, been 
taught deeper lessons respecting the true nature, the necessity, the 
just claims, and the boundless beneficence of rightful government 
during the past year than during all the previous three-score 
years of the century. And alas! for us, if we do not mark, learn, 
and inwardly digest them ! What solemn lessons, too, have been 
given us respecting the real character and fruits of a government 
founded in lawlessness and treason! The grandest and best 
things are the most fearful when converted into instruments of 
unrighteousness. No sort of impiety equals that which comes of 
turning the grace of God into licentiousness. What form of social 
pollution is like that of an adulterous marriage ? It was an " arch- 
angel ruined " who led on the rebel host of heaven. And so 
when the majesty of government is made the cloak and shield of 
unnatural rebellion, we have one of the most terrific spectacles 



6 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

ever witnessed among men. Sucli a monstrous spectacle has sud- 
denly presented itself to the astonished gaze of heaven and earth, 
in the midst of this Christian land — in this second half of the nine- 
teenth century. Mankind never looked upon one more strange 
or impressive. I firmly believe it is designed by divine wisdom 
to teach the unhappy people of the South and the whole nation 
lessons, which neither they nor their children after them will ever 
forget. When we emerge out of this dark night of trouble, as 
with God's blessing I believe we shall, it will be with such a sense 
and such memories of the power and benignity of rightful free 
government on the one hand, and of the cruelty and terrors of a 
lawless, tyrannical government on the other hand, as shall com- 
pensate, in no small degree, for all our sacrifices. We are a 
youthful people yet; and we shall still be assailed by gigantic 
temptations to break asunder those bands of righteous law and 
restraint which, with such pious wisdom, our fathers wrought into 
the whole framework of our national life, and which no people 
can long set at naught but at the risk of being dashed in pieces, 
like a potter's vessel. May it not prove to us, in times of future 
trial, a bulwark of moral strength that tiius, in the early manhood 
of. our career, we had borne the yoke and learned obedience by 
the things which we suffered ? 

3. Another weighty lesson, vividly taught us by the events of 
the past year, is the extreme weakness of good men, and their 
liability to be carried away by popular frenzy. I know of nothing 
connected wiih this great rebellion more unspeakably sad than 
the hearty approval it has received from thousands of the best 
men and women in the South — persons of unquestionable virtue,, 
intelligence, and Christian principle. Instead of regarding it as a 
colossal crime, they profess to regard it as one of the holiest wars 
ever waged. No Crusader ever fought for the recovery of the 
hol}^ sepulcher with a fiercer zeal than many of them have dis- 
played in this assault upon the life of their country. And if we 
had lived in the South, who can say how few of us would not 
have followed their example? I do not allude to this subject 
here for the purpose of uttering harsh words; I have no heart for 
that. The simple fact is painful and dreadful enough without 
angry comment; at least from the sacred desk. It is something to 
weep and wail over. May the Lord forgive them; for they surely 
know not what they do ! And for ourselves, let us learn from 
this appalling instance what a poor protection mere personal 
virtue, intelligence, or piety affords against a thoroughly demoral- 
ized and frenzied popular sentiment; bow readily the most solemn 
oaths and obligations and opinions may be swept away when once 
the public reason is dethroned, and mad passions installed in its 
place ; above all, what an unutterable curse it is for society to 
carry in its bosom and idolize as divine an institution, which, like 



THE rROYIDENTIAL LESSONS OF 1801. 7 

slaveiy, is essentially at war with the first principles of Christian 
justice, humanity, and civilization. I am very far from thinking 
that good men at the South were any worse than good men at the 
North. But they bieatlicd a social atmosphere, charged witli 
perilous stuiT; they had long eaten of an insane root ; and it only 
needed the favoring circumstances to concentrate the ])oison, and 
plunge them in one common, universal delirium. Not with phari- 
saic pride, but with heartfelt grief, pity, and prayer let ns contem- 
plate their deplorable state, and thank God, not that we are better 
than they, but that our lot has fallen to us in higher latitudes and 
on freer'^soil. But it would be wrong to forget here that there 
have been bright exceptions to the general madness, which has 
swept over the revolted States. History does not record finer in- 
stances of patriotic fidelity and heroism than have tinged with a 
silver lining this black cloud of conspiracy and insurrection. _ Not 
a few have been found to whom Milton's beautiful description of 
the seraph Abdiel might be justly applied : 

" Among innumerable fdl?e, unmoved, 
Unshaken, unseduced, unterritied, 
Kia loyalty be kept, liis love, his zeal ; 
Nor number, nor example with him wrought 
To swerve from tnitb, or change his c nislant mind, 
Though single. From amidst ihem forth he passed. 
Long way through hostile scoro, which he su-tained 
Superior • " 

4. And this leads me to note another lesson written as with the 
point of a diamond upon the events of the past year ; I mean 
the paramount claims of our country to our services, property, 
life, and every thing earthly that is ours. We had often felt the 
supremacy of these claims in reference to other times and form.er 
generations; and we had read with admiration and delight of the 
manner in which they were met by the noble army of patriots 
and martyrs to liberty from the Hebrew, Grecian, and Roman ages 
down through all the Christian centuries to our venerated sires. 
But we ourselves have lived in quiet, prosperous times, and it has 
been only to a very limited extent that we have felt in our own 
persons the more severe pressure of public duty. As a conse- 
quence, it can not be denied, the patriotic sentiment had been 
greatly weakened and injured for want of discipline ; private in- 
terests had assumed a dictatorial power; we were giving our- 
selves up, without let or hindrance, to the pursuits of gain, to the 
buying of pieces of land, of oxen, and of merchandise, and to 
the building of fine houses, and doing our own pleasure — m a 
word, to making money and to self-indulgence. I do not say that 
this was all, that no higher motives actuated our lives ; but simply 
that the overwhelming tendency and temptation was to move 
along a very low plane of thought and action, to regard life as 
chiefly intended for our private use and profit. Was it not so . 



8 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

Did we not read and hear about deeds of heroic self-sacrifice and 
devotion to great principles very much as of a winter's evening, 
around his own fireside, one reads about shipwrecks and storms at 
sea? But the case is altogether different now. This year has 
initiated us into a higher lore. It has taught us that next to God 
we belong to our country, and that at her bidding there is no 
sacrifice we ought not cheerfully to make— no toil we ought not 
to undergo— no danger, though it be to march to the cannon & 
mouth or stand in the imminent deadly breach, which we should 
slirink from flicing; it has made us comprehend that almost all 
the things we had been used most to think of and to prize, are 
as nothing compared with her approval and benediction, llow 
vividly conscious we now are, that in serving our country we are 
in the glorious service of justice, law, freedom, humanity, and reli- 
gion ! that in spending and being spent fc>r her, we are helping 
forward the great cau'se of God, and treasuring up blessings for 
our posterity and for all mankind! Who can estimate the 
elevating and transforming influence of such thoughts as these, 
suddenly awakened as they have been during the past year, in 
the minds of millions whose existence before had been chiefly 
absorbed in mere material interests ! what an education fur the 
public spirit, the loyalty, and whole manhood of the nation I 
Certainly it is some compensation for the woful losses and suffer- 
ing and horrors through which we are passing, that they serve 
as the providential occasion for developing in the heart of the 
American people that sublime consciousness of truth and duty 
which is at once the strength and the crowning grace of a free 
Christian state. Thousands of loyal citizens who began the year 
in health are now sleeping in a soldier's grave or pining in 
gloomy prisons and hospitals, or weeping the tears of widowhood 
and sharp bereavement ; tens of thousands more who began it 
in wealth will end it in poverty ; innumerable fortunes have been 
thrown overboard and sunk out of sight in this sea of trouble. 
It would be hard to estimate the grief, waste, loss, and destruction 
of property, of business, and of solid schemes of life which have 
come upon the nation ; and yet if we reckon wealth and pros- 
perity as Heaven does, the country and the people are incompara- 
bly richer than they were twelve months ago. How much richer 
in patriotic confidence and affections, in devotion to the general 
good, in patience and virtuous self-control, in manly vahjr and 
unboastful self-reliance, in gratitude to the past, in hope and 
high resolve, in reverence for both law and liberty, and in the 
assured feeling that the God of our fathers is still our God and 
will be the God and guide of our children \ This is a kind of 
wealth which, though coined out of hearts' blood, is more pre- 
cious than rubies ; there are no jewels which adorn the brow of 
a Christian people with such resplendent beauty. 



THE PROVIDENTIAL LESSONS OF 1861. 

The lessons of which I have spoken by no means cxhau.st the 
impressive teaching of this- year of wonder. ^Yhat new and ter- 
rible light it has poured in upon the hiilden depths of American 
slavery ! What amazing proofs it has given us of the power and 
resources of political crime, when once organized into a svstem, 
actuated by the spirit of a domineering social caste, backed by 
popular frenzy, and led on by a band of resolute, remorseless, 
and desperate conspirators I Only amidst the horrors of the 
first French Revolution does modern history offer a parallel. 
"What light, too, do the events of this year cast on the disputed 
problems resjiccting the progress of Christian society, and the 
effect of that progress upon individual character and the old de- 
praved passions of human nature ! But important as these points 
are, I will not stop to dwell upon them now. Some of them, 
indeed, have been considered in previous sermons ; and all of 
them are likely to acquire fresh interest and meaning as this 
fearful drama of Providence shall be more fully developed. 

5. I pass, therefore, to a closing lesson, which brings the sub- 
ject home directly to our own bosoms, and is a most fitting reflec- 
tion for this last religious service of the year. It is the vanity of 
the individual man, except as he stands related to God and eter- 
nity. I spoke a moment ago of the paramount claims of our 
country and the general good over our private interests. But, 
after all, how insignificant is any one individual among thirty 
millions, is any single life in the great perennial life of the nation! 
It is like a single grain of sand upon the sea-shore: it is a fugi- 
tive wave among the infinite, multitudinous waves ot the ocean ! 
You and I are bound to give all we have to our country, and to 
die for her if need be. But how easily our country can dispense 
with your services or mine, with you and me! Our friends 
would miss us, and mark the spot and the hour when and where 
we vanished from sight; but the nation, busied and oppressed 
with its tremendous cares, would move on as if we had never 
existed. There may seem to be exceptions now and then, like 
that of the illustrious soldier and patriot whose loyal solicitude 
has just hurried him back across the wintry Atlantic, and whose 
career has contributed so largely to shape that of our Union. 
But even these rare exceptions are so chiefly in appearance. It is 
the personal virtue and nobleness, which especially entwines such 
men's names with the history and fame of their country. If 
Washington had not been a man of consummate personal worth, 
would lie ever have been so enshrined in our grateful love and 
veneration? Here, then, public and private duty are reconciled. 
We serve our country and the world best when we most dili- 
gently cherish those pure, generous and holy affections, those im- 
mortal virtues, which prepare us for a better country, that is, an 
heavenly— for the eternal fellowship of saints and angels, and for 



10 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

the presence of our God and Saviour. Thus is the ideal of a 
perfect Christian culture one with that which makes us jzood men 
and women, good citizens, and good in all the varied relations of 
our earthly life. Let us see to it, then, that first of all by prayer, 
repentance, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a devout imitation 
of his sinless example, we perform aright our inalienable personal 
work. Let ns allow nothing — no pressure of public care, no ex- 
citement of the times, no worldly attraction or interest — to seduce 
us for a moment from that inward, spiritual allegiance which we 
owe to the adorable Captain of our salvation. 

Let us live in Christ and to Christ, and we shall then live most 
wisely for all about us. This is the best method of rendering 
ourselves useful and a blessing to our homes, our friends, our 
country, the church, and the whole world. This is the w\ay to 
enjoy "central peace" amidst the endless agitations of temporal 
existence, and to secure a seat among the happy few 

" Who chvell on earth, yet breatlie empyreal air, 
Sons of the morning " 

Thus standing at the post of duty, like faithful sentinels, we 
shall not be surprised or affrighted by the coming of the Son 
of Man, whether he come in the second or in the third watch. 
" Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh 
shall find watching ; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird 
himself and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth 
and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, 
or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those 
servants," 



now TO MEET THE EVENTS OF 18G2. H 

SERjNIODNT.* 

BY KEY. GK01U;H L. IMIENTISS, D.D.. 

OF N K ^\' - Y () R IC (' 1 T Y . 



HOW TO MEET THE EVENTS OF 18C2. 

" Unto the upright there ariseth h-ht in the darkness : lie is gracious, and full of 
compass on, and lio-hteous. lie shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is hxed, 
trusting in the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his 
desire upon his enemies." — Psalm 112 : 4, 7, 8. 

I CALLED your attention on last Sunday afternoon to some of 
the providential lessons taught us by the extraordinary events of 
the past year. My present aim \Yill be to show in what spirit we 
ought to look forward to the events of the new year, and how we 
should prepare ourselves to meet them ; or, to express it m another 
way, let lis consider what is the most Christian posture of mmd 
toward the future at such a time as this. 

The subject, I think, every one will admit, is eminently practical 
and seasonable. It comes home to the business and bosoms ot us 
all If we have any real faith in God, never was there a moment 
better fitted to test and to illustrate it. If there be a fundamental 
difference between the religious man and the worldling, now is the 
hour for letting it be seen. If Christ's Gospel, as m several recent 
discourses I have tried to show, is intended and able to trans- 
fio-ure our earthly life with sacred beauty, to give us comfort 
uphold our flxinting spirits, and brighten the darkest cloud ot 
trouble with the bow of celestial promise, let it do so now. ^ever 
before had we such an occasion to put in practice all the noblest 
principles of our religion. Never before had we such an oppor- 
tunity to do signal honor to our Lord and Master by the manner 
in which we represent him to the world. Never before were we 
summoned by so loud a voice from heaven to take unto us the 
whole armor of God, and quit us like true Christian rnen and 
women. If, in such a storm as this, we are found faithless and 
craven-hearted, it will onlv demonstrate how unworthy we are 
of the name we profess, and of the privileges we enjoy ; it will 
only show that we deserve to becast overboard as so many mere 
Jonahs and cumberers of the ship. . ^ , . ^ 

In what spirit, then, ought we to look forward to the events ot 
1862 and how should we be prepared to meet them when they come r 
If our blessed Lord himself, or one of his inspired apostles, should 
appear to answer this question for us, what would that answer be 
We know what it would be ; for in effect they did answer it 

* Preached Sunday afternoon, Jan. 5th, 1SG2. 



13 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

eighteen hundred years ago. It is trul}^ marvelous how much in 
our Lord's teaching, in that of his Apostles, and in tlie Old Testa- 
ment, has reference to the manner in which great public troubles 
should be encountered ; nor is there any thing in the Holy Scrip- 
tures that exhibits, in a light more impressive, the moral elevation, 
power, and magnanimity of the Christian spirit. It is not, how- 
ever, in the teaching of the Bible alone that we get the right an- 
swers to the question I have asked ; we have it answered prac- 
tically a thousand times over in the whole history of the Church. 
How large a portion of that history is a record of suffering ! 
If there is any thing that the Church ought to understand 
well, it is the Gospel art of meeting great tribulations — of fac- 
ing every kind and degree of public and private calamity; for her 
experience has sounded their lowest depths. There is no wave and 
no billow which has not gone over her. It is hardly possible to 
conceive an exigency so momentous or so perplexing, that nothing 
analogous to it can be found in her annals. There were, no doubt, 
some events in the year just closed which form an altogether new 
chapter in the book of universrd history; it could not be other- 
wise. Providence is not wont to copy itself. Its principles are 
always the same, because they are perfect and eternal ; but its 
lessons, like spring-flowers, have an infinite variety and freshness. 
There is always something unique about them. They carry the 
race on to a higher point of view, and a more complete knowledge 
of the truth and ways of God. They shed new light upon the 
great problems of humanity and Christian society. They help to 
bring nearer the day when the reign of Divine Justice shall be 
fully inaugurated from the rising of the sun unto the going down 
of the same. It will be so, we may rest assured, with the lessons 
and events of 1862. The events of 1862 ! How little we fore- 
know exactly what they will be ; how they will affect our country 
and the world, or how they will affect us individually ! Never be- 
fore was the immediate future so utterly, inscrutable. Changes 
which, not long ago, would have consumed half a century, now 
occur in a single year. Events move on with a rush like ice issuing 
in the spring from one of our Northern rivers. There is something 
in their magnitude, rapidity, and prodigious effects which baflles 
and defies all foresight. A thousand years used to be with the Lord 
as one day ; now one day is almost as a thousand years. Never 
was the sagacity of men most profoundly versed in the knowledge 
of affairs, and of the past, so utterly at fault. Whether this is 
owing to material, social, or rather to specifically providential 
causes, or to all three combined, we need not stop to inquire ; 
enough that the flict is indisputable. This new year is likely to 
be quite as eventful and exciting as the past. We can not tell 
what the course of things will be ; but be it what it may, we 
know it must be one of incalculable importance. It will, perhaps, 



HOW TO MEET THE EVENTS OF 18G2. 13 

decide the fate of our country ; nor would it be very stranj^^c if 
the destinies of several other countries shouUl be virtually lixed 
this year. One has only to glance at the colossal forces arrayed 
against each other in mortal struggle; one has only to consider 
what interests, what principles, and what opinions are also arrayed 
against each other, all striving for the mastery; one has only to 
reflect that peace and readjustment are now impossible, except 
through a great victory, or a great defeat, and the understanding 
of a child can perceive that we are drawing near to events, the 
fame of which will " roll sounding onward through a thousand 
years." 

And now, I ask again, in what spirit does it become a Christian 
man to look forward to and meet them ? 

1. In the spirit of devout filial trust in God. This is the first 
and best thing. Nothing else can supply its place. Prayer and 
faith put the soul at once in the right temper for meeting what- 
ever is coming to pass. They connect the events b}'' anticipation 
with that Almighty Power without which not a sparrow falleth to 
the ground. God will govern the world this new year, from 
beginning to end, just as wisely and effectually as he governed 
in the past; and who of us can refuse him the tribute of our 
grateful praise and adoration for the manner in which he governed 
it last year? Who is disposed to charge him with having made 
any mistake? lie will commit no mistake in 1862. lie will al- 
low no one to thwart or circumvent his plan. That plan is al- 
ready formed, even to the minutest detail; it includes all the 
events of the year up to its dying second ; many of them will be 
strange and unexpected to us, but not one of them will be so to 
God. There is not a shadow of doubt, not a shadow of reason to 
doubt that he will manage the affairs of our country during the 
next twelve months with infinite skill. There will be a great 
deal of bad management on the part of men, as there has been in 
the past; but out of these very errors the divine skill is sure to 
elicit some ultimate advantage. If there should be no human 
mismanagement; if every thing should be done exactly as we 
might wish, or think best, it would be something unheard of in 
the history of the world. 

Now, if this be a true statement of the Christian doctrine of 
providence — and I ask you, if it is not? — if, moreover, that doc- 
trine is no barren theological dogma, no pious illusion, no mere 
theme for the pulpit, but the most fruitful and substantial fact in 
the sphere of human affairs, then, what a sublime resting-place it 
affords to our anxious thoughts, as we listen to the roaring of the 
waves, and try to peer out into the midnight darkness that en- 
shrouds the future 1 We have heard, during the past year, a 
great deal about the masterly strategy of our generals, and the tri- 
umphs which in a little while were sure to crown it. But cxpe- 



14 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

rience has already taught us that this is no certain reliance, and 
that able cembinations may be formed on the other side. It is 
eternal Providence alone whose combinations are unerring and 
always successful ; for God sees the end from the beginning, and 
can cause the victory of enemies and the discomfiture of friends 
alike to farther his own designs. If any one is afflicted with a 
feeble impression of this truth, let him read through his Bible 
again, and see how from the book of Genesis to the book of the 
Eevelation it shows God's sovereign hand in the world. That rul- 
ing hand is strong and skillful as in the beginning. It is as busy 
in our affairs to-day as it was in the affairs of the chosen people at 
any moment in their history : it is as busy in our affairs to-day as 
it was in any events described in the Apocalypse ; as it was in the 
blessed Eeformation of the sixteenth century ;, in the civil wars of 
England ; or in our own struggle for national independence. IIow 
absurd to believe that God notes the fall of a sparrow, and yet 
takes no part in a contest which shakes the world, and involves 
the most vital interests of Christian civilization ! liest assured, 
he not only takes part in it, but the chief part. Rest assured, the 
struggle is his, and intended to secure his ends. This is not deny- 
ing the proper freedom of the human agents, nor the reality of the 
human causes ; it is merely assorting that above all these, and 
running through all these, is a Providential cause and agency to 
which they are subordinate, and which is the true key of the moral 
situation. Such is the simple teaching of religious faith. Let us 
endeavor to practice it to the full. While others are floundering 
in the bog of endless conjecture and worldly calculation, or tossed 
to and fro in the whirlpool of excited popular opinion, let us stand 
firmly upon this Rock of Ages, lifting up our heads in the strength 
of filial trust and prayer. It is always folly to try to walk through 
this world b}'- sight only ; it is madness to do so now. If we 
would not be confounded nor put to shame ; if we would look the 
future in the face without dismay, we must learn to keep step to 
the music of Providence, and say continually in our hearts: Alle- 
lulia ! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 

2. Armed with such a joyous and devout trust in God, it will not 
be difficult for us to exercise in all things a spirit of Christian pa- 
tience and moderation ; and that is the next point. I am aiming 
to show how we may most honor our religion by the manner in 
which we demean ourselves in a time of public calamity ; and I 
have said that the first requisite is to put ourselves in direct com- 
munion with God, reverently intrusting our cause to him, and 
leaning upon his arm. This u a posture of the human mind 
than which nothing nobler can be conceived of. But it is not 
easy to attain it: a bare wish, a volition, a sermon will not 
make it ours. It has severe conditions, like all eminently good 
things : and one of these conditions is a spirit of Christian patience 



now TO MEET THE EVENTS OF 18G2. 15 

and moderation. You can not rest in God without a corresponding 
equipoise and rest in yourself. A state of reasonless excitement 
and passion is utterly hostile to i-niyer and religious trust. It 
needs only a slight acquaintance with our mental constitution to 
see--what is indeed evident from daily observation — that lawless 
passion, in all its forms, and whether it express itself in word or 
deed, discomposes and enfeebles the soul. It is, for the time be- 
ing, a dethronement of reason, converting the wise man into a 
fool, and_ the bad man into a maniac. It casts a cloud over what- 
ever is fair, generous and strong in human character. If it once 
gets possession of a whole people, its en'ecls are like a eoidlagra- 
tion. Nothing that stands in its devouring path is sacred any 
more. The solemn temples, the halls of justice, the venerable 
monuments of other times, the galleries of art, the sanctuaries of 
misfortune and distress, and the homes of the people — all turn to 
ashes before it. It is indeed a fearful thing, and we can not guard 
against it with too much vigilance. Many seem to feel as if the 
exciting times justified almost any amount of impatient and furious 
emotion. But tliat is certainly a strange mode of reasoning; it is 
as if one should argue in favor of the freest use of strong drink, 
because there was an extraordinary prevalence of intemperance ; 
or, as if one should think it a good time to set all sail, because a 
hurricane was blowing. No doubt, the exciting times supply in- 
exhaustible fuel for the stormy passions of our nature ; they render 
it exceedingly difficult for the wisest man to keep his balance ; 
but is that any good reason why he should not keep his balance ? 
Because the temptations to cutting loose from the safe anchorage- 
ground of Christian principle are overwhelming, should we, there- 
fore, deem it a light matter to cut loose and be driven forth, rud- 
derless, upon the wild, tempestuous waves ? No, my brethren; 
that would be a very childish course, dishonorable equally to our 
manhood and to our piety. Exciting and perilous times are the 
ones, of all others, for the exercise of the most heroic and religious 
qualities; they are the times appointed for the highest triumph of 
Christian fortitude, calmness and self-control ; they loudly call 
for and presage general ruin unless they find silent, thoughtful, 
self-poised and lion-hearted men, who loathe boastful noise and 
bluster, who fear God, and will not swerve from the path of just- 
ice, duty and honor, though a million of voices clamored never so 
fiercely for them to do so. It is always easy to give way to the 
petty, selfish and malignant passions; at such a time as ihis it is 
easier than to think or speak. There is nobody so bad or so foolish 
that he can not do it; and there is nobody so wise and good that 
he is not in constant danger of doing it. Of course, I am not 
arguing against strong feeling, nor censuring or deprecating its 
reasonable expression. No one, it seems to me, can now feel 
right without feeling deeply. Indifference, while such issues are 



16 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

pending, is a sort of moral treason, and I pity the man who is 
cursed with it. But there is a world of difference between pro- 
found and boisterous, unbridled or rancorous feeling. Our right- 
ful emotions can not be too profound; but they may be readily 
vitiated and wasted in fretful talk, clamor and empty rage. They 
may get extravagant and lawless. AVe ought to husband them 
with religious care ; we should aim to concentrate them upon the 
best objects, and to elevate them into deliberate convictions and 
principles of action. Without them there is indeed nothing truly 
generous and grand in human character; we can not be thoroughly 
and effectively in earnest if not impassioned. But Christian pas- 
sion is not that of gall and wormwood ; it is the wise inspiration 
of love, and pays dutiful homage to truth and justice. When 
roused to the utmost pitch of righteous indignation, it still re- 
members the saying that is written : " Vengeance is mine ; I will 
repay, saith the Lord." Nothing, in fine, is more beautiful in times 
of general distress and agitation ; nothing indicates more plainly a 
soul planted above the turmoil of the hour and in close alliance 
with heaven ; nothing is surer to exert a soothing, benign influence 
than the gentle spirit of Gospel patience and moderation : 

" A sweet, revergeless, quiet mind, 
And to cue's greatett haters kind." 

-Asa people, we are taking lessons on this subject, which ought 
to make us wiser. We have witnessed, during the past year, the 
frightful and. barbarizing effects of unrestrained passion, on a scale 
unknown before on this continent; and our ears have recently 
been stunned by loud reports of the same explosive mischief from 
beyond the ocean. We have seen the public sentiment of the 
first Christian nation in the Old World completely frenzied by 
sudden rage, and, casting all patience and moderation to tiie winds, 
pour itself forth in a torrent of vindictive menace and vituper- 
ation ; and that, too, against a kindred Christian people, ])er- 
plexed in the extreme, and agonizing in a desperate struggle for 
their very existence. Were not such a f\incy precluded by the 
practiced literary skill and unmistakable Anglican manner of the 
assault, one might easily imagine that the cunning emissaries of 
the great pro-slavery rebellion itself had all at once been installed 
in the responsible editorial office of guiding the public opinion 
of the British nation, already so prejudiced and rni>led by their 
stealthy machinations. What a comment upon Christian civil- 
ization in the second half of the nineteenth century ! What a 
fine illustration of the boasted progress of society ! I do not 
forget that this tempest of wrathful abuse and tlireatening was met 
on the spot by generous, brave words of Christian rebuke and 
moderation; we may feel quite certain it found no echo in the 
heart of England's most excellent and beloved, but now, alas! 



now TO MEET THE EVENTS OF 1862. 17 

widowed Queen, as we are assured it did not in that of her deeply 
lamented consort. Neither do I forget to what an extent it was 
raised, by the artful appeals and misrepresentation of an un- 
scrupulous press. But after taking all tliese things into account, 
it still remains an exceedingly painful and disheartening spectacle. 
Nor have we ourselves always been guiltless of similar violence. 
But let us hope that a better day is dawning. The dignitied and con- 
siderate demeanor of the American people under the recent severe 
trial of their temper, is highly auspicious, and seems to me a fit 
matter for devout thanksgiving. They would not have met such 
a provocation two years ago with the same calmness. It will be 
no light reward for all our present sufferings if, exorcising the 
aggressive, unclean spirit of national pride and self-conceit, they 
teach us to understand that the real glory of a Christian people, as 
of a Christian man, is to be just, patient, and reasonable, as well 
as strong. 

3. But I hasten to note another thing that ought to mark the 
spirit with which we go forward into the new year. It is a cou- 
rageous willingness to make any and every sacrifice to which our 
country may call us. The year opens with many favorable omens. 
As we look back and recall the beginning of i86l, it seems as if 
a mountain had been lifted from the heart of the country. Then 
we were in horrible fear lest the Lord God of our fathers, had 
abandoned us ; lest the ancient ancestral glory which, from the day 
it was set up, had filled our political tabernacle, was about to 
depart, and our life as a people was to be extinguislaed in an abyss 
of national idiocy, cowardice, and shame. That hideous dread 
God has been pleased mercifully to remove from us. He has 
breathed upon the hearts of the people, and summoned them to 
arise and shake themselves from the dust of their selfish interests 
and old vices — to put on their beautiful garments, and array 
themselves for both the battle and the altar of burnt-offering. 
Nor have they been disobedient to the summons. Never in our 
day did they stand on so high a moral vantage-ground ; never, I 
firmly believe it, were they in closer alliance with eternal just- 
ice, or more ready to do its bidding, than they are now. But a 
vast work is yet to be done ; a work of whose magnitude the most 
of us have only the faintest conception, and which no man can 
adequately comprehend ; a work requiring consummate wisdom, 
fortitude, valor, energy, perseverance, loyal self-devotion, and faith 
in God ; a work worthy to have tasked any generation of good 
citizens, soldiers, and statesmen that ever walked the earth. And 
if Moses, David, Nehemiah, Daniel, and the most renowned pa- 
triots of Greece and Kome — if King Alfred and Washington 
were before me, I would still say so ! This is clear as daylight, 
take what theoretical view you please of the past, the present, or 
the future. If victory should henceforth perch upon the national 



18 THE NATIONAL PREACHER. 

Standard on every battle-field ; if peace should hasten to come 
back and spread her white wings over the whole reunited republic, 
even then it would be so. We can not be too deeply impressed 
with this truth ; especially should it be engraven, as with the point 
of a diamond, upon the consciences of our public men, our Presi- 
dent and his Cabinet, our Senators and Representatives, the leaders 
of our army and navy, and all others, of whatever calling, who 
occupy places of influence and authority in the land. That man 
is not fit— that man is utterly unworthy to have a voice in the na- 
tional councils, or to direct the national forces, or to guide tiie pop- 
ular opinion at this awful moment, who does not see and is not 
greatly sobered by the thought that he is not living in ordinary 
times, nor fulfilling ordinary functions, but that, by the appoint- 
ment of Almighty Providence, he is transacting business for un- 
born generations and for the human race. If, instead of this, he is 
merely looking out for some plank which he may appropriate from 
the wreck of the public prosperity ; if his chief thought is how to 
make money out of the distresses of the nation, or how to further 
his petty, selfish political ends, then, I say, he is a traitor to God 
and his country, and, if he does not repent, will doubtless at the 
day of judgment, if not sooner, receive a traitor's doom. All our 
ends now should be for God, our country, and mankind. What 
are we individually, and what are all our earthly interests — what is 
any man in the land, I care not how high he stands — and what are 
his individual interests, that we should stop to weigh them or our- 
selves in the balance against such public claims as now press upon 
us? Let us, then, face this new year and its unknown events 
armed with a courageous willingness to perform any service and 
make any sacrifice for the sake of helping on the good cause. It 
is not impossible that foreign war may be added to our intestine 
strife. If so, let us pray that it may be thrust upon us wrongfully ; 
and then, conscious of right, we may calmly, reverently, without 
boasting, yet without dismay, join issue with a world in arms. 
Then the stars in their courses will fight for us, as they fought 
against Sisera. Friends innumerable will spring up throughout 
Christendom, and even in heathen lands. Above all, the Lord of 
hosts will be with us, and will take part on our side. Tliia, my 
brethren, is the way to peace in calamitous times: an unflinching 
loyalty to duty and to God. This will keep any man from 

" Starting and turning pale 

At Rumor's angry din ; 
No storm can then as.sail 

The charm he wears within : 
Rejoicing still, and doing good, 
And with the thought of God imbued." 

4. The subject is so important and fruitful — it is so emphaticallv 
a life-question for us all, that we might well spend many iionrs in 



HOW TO MEKT THE EVENTS OF 1862. 19 

considering it. But I will detain you with only one further re- 
mark. Let us enter upon the new year in the full assurance of 
hope ; that is the natural conclusion of all I have been saying, 
and it is, moreover, our Christian birthright. Let us not liang 
down our heads like bulrushes, but lift them up, as our Lord bids 
us, assured that, amidst all these troubles, our redemption is draw- 
ang nigh. 

Though weak, and tossed, and ill at ease, 
Amid the roar of smiling seas 
And ship's convulsive roll, 

let us Still keep our eye fixed steadfastly upon the eternal Pole- 
star, and our souls staid upon the promise and oath of our 
Almighty Leader. Then in due time shall our light break forth 
as the morning, and our darkness become as noonday. Let us not 
be afraid of evil tidings. The future of the republic extends 
beyond a year, and will be long enough, let us not doubt, for the 
complete triumph of law, justice, freedom, humanity, and Christ- 
ian truth. Wherefore, my brethren, be strong, and rejoice always 
in the Lord and in the power of his might ; for surely the wrath 
of man shall praise him, the remainder of wrath shall he restrain. 
Pray without ceasing. Let patience have her perfect work. Let 
your moderation be known unto all men. 

Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, 
which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and 
good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you 
in every good word and work. Amen. 

Rev. George L. Prentiss, D.D. : New-York, January 8, 1862. 

Dkar Sir: "We respectfully ask, for publication, copies of the two sermons on " The 
Lessons of 1861," and "The Events of 1862."' The times urgently demand the em- 
ployment of every influence calculated to inspire the public contidence, allay impatience 
binder existing evils, and to excite a proper spirit to meet the dangers and difficulties 
which impend over the country. The sermons in question seem to us so well designed 
to effect these results, that we wish to extend their influence beyond the congregation 
to which they were addressed. Hoping for a favorable answer to our request, we are, 
dear sir. 

Yours very truly and respectfiilly, 

Wm. E. Dodge, Legrand r^. Cannon, 

Geo. B. De Forest, R. H. McCurdy, 

Hermon Griffin, Henry B. Smith. 
D. D. Lord, 

New- York, January 9, 1862. 
Gentlemen : The sermons, of which you request copies for the press, were written 
in haste and without atiy thought of publication. But if you deern ihera fitted to fur- 
ther in the least tlie righteous cause, they are entirely at your service. 

Believe me most truly yours, George L. Prentiss. 

Messrs. Wm. K. Dodge, Legrand B. Cannon, 

Geo. B. De Forest, R. O. McCurdy, 

Hermon Griffin, Henry B. Smith. 
D. D. Lord, 




For 1862. 

5 EDITED BY 

•^ Rev. henry B. SMITH, D.D. 

PROFESSOR IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW-TORK. 

Aided by Rev. Prof. KOSWELL D. HITCHCOCK. D.D.. and a large number of 

able contributors. 



1. The third volume of thi8 able Quarterly is completed, embellished with a fine portrait of 
Sir William Hamilton. The set of three volumes maybe had, at the office, neatly bound, 
rich in valuable articles. , •■ i. i. u tu r. 

2. This Review was established to meet the wants of those mmisters and churches, both con- 
gregational and Presbyterian, tliat accept the Assembly's Shorter Catechism as an expression of 
their theological views. 

3. It is designed to be a medium for the discussion of the most important questions by 
some of the ablest writers of the country. 

4. This Review, in three years, has won a high position, surpassed by none. 

6. The January number, 186-2, is weighty with massive and powerful thoughts. 

6. It is embellished with a striking likeness, beautifully engraved, of the Rev. Gardiner 
Speing, D.D., whose praise is in all the churches, with an interesting sketch of his life and 
works, by the Editor, Prof H. B. Smith. 

7. A review of Prof Park's Life of Emmons, including a criticism on Emmons's Theology, 
is the leading article, from the strong pen of Prof. H. B. Smith, D.D. 

8. The second article concludes the masterly review of Ante-Nicene Trinitarianism, by Prof 
RoswELL D. Hitchcock, D.D , valuable and worthy to be read and studied by ministers and 
students. « , t. . 

9. A searching reply, by Prof Tayler Levfis, LL.D., to the attack of the Princeton 
Review on Dr. Hickok. 

10. A review of the Memorial Volume of the American Board, by Dr. Worcester. 
For full contents, see next page. 



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